


What the heart wants

by Kyoukalay



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Ace character, Day 4, F/M, Friendship, Layemmy, Layemmyweek2020, Lemmyweek2020, One-Shot, Photography, Prompt: Photography, Romance, lemmy - Freeform, magical artifact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27710513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyoukalay/pseuds/Kyoukalay
Summary: Emmy has been working for the World Times for over a year now. She feels like it's time to purchase a new camera, as a treat. When she does, she quickly figures out that this is no regular camera.Prompt 4 for Layemmyweek2020: Photography
Relationships: Emmy Altava & Hershel Layton, Emmy Altava/Hershel Layton
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7
Collections: LayEmmy Week 2020





	What the heart wants

Emmy had always liked taking pictures ever since she was a little girl. She took pictures on those disposable cameras off the sky, the ground, the grass, the insects, her mother, her brother and everything else she thought was interesting. This continued on to her teen years when she got her first real camera. She loved it dearly unlike anything else. It was like it was the only steady thing in her life. She got better at taking pictures too. She took candid pictures, dynamic pictures, panoramic, still life, with dazzling effects or with none at all.

She started taking selfies when she was bored and made a hobby out of it to take the weirdest selfies in the most absurd places. On top of the edge of a building, only centimeters away from water, underwater, next to her sleeping uncle and anything she could get away with. She always figured it would stay a hobby. Something that would stay by her side when everything else fell away.

During her time with the Professor, she received a polaroid camera as a present during one of their trips. It was a delight to be able to print the pictures out right away and she went wild with it the first few adventures; To a point that the Professor actually had to ask her to focus from time to time. In the end, one of her pictures had actually helped in solving one of the mysteries they investigated, proving to Emmy once more, that her camera was the best.

After everything that had happened in the sanctuary, Emmy realised that the pictures she saved had a few things in common. One, she had abandoned her quest for strange selfies. Two, she liked snapping more pictures with her polaroid camera since she was able to hang them up in her room. And three, they were mostly of one person. One person she adored and missed…

As a treat for her hard work at the World Times, she had bought herself a brand new camera. The beauty arrived one day when she was in a small town up north. The mailman knocked on the door of her cabin where she stayed for the next few days. When she opened, she was surprised that he had found her out here in the middle of nowhere. She was supposed to capture a picture of this yeti that was spotted a few weeks back, but so far, no luck.

She thanked the mailman profusely, shut the door in his face and ran back inside to open the package. She sat down on the carpet in front of the fireplace, her favourite spot since she had arrived here, and ripped the cardboard off in a gentle way. The inside was tightly wrapped into foil, for safety of the product. Emmy squealed happily when she started to see her shiny new toy. She carefully unwrapped the camera and hugged it close when it was exposed completely.

‘’Finally!’’ She kissed the top of her camera.

It was a sort of hybrid between a regular professional camera and a polaroid. That way she could still print the pictures out immediately, but she would also be able to do more with them like add effects. It was just more professional all in all. Which was what she needed for the job. Once everything was unpacked and the instructions were read thoroughly, Emmy grabbed a hold of her new toy and looked through the lens. She aimed it at the fire and angled it in a way that made it look quite beautiful. She snapped her first picture, excited to see what it would look like.  
As expected, the camera printed out the picture relatively fast. Emmy waited patiently while she caressed the camera lovingly in her lap.

‘’We are going to have so many adventures together.’’ she whispered.

It was around three minutes later when she finally looked down at the picture in her hand. She expected nothing less but a beautiful image...but felt surprised when it showed her something else entirely. The picture did not present the fire in front of her. No, it depicted the corner of an office she had grown very familiar with. In the corner, sat a man in a chair, hunched over his desk with concentration on his face. His tophat was discarded next to him, showing her a fluffy head of hair.

She gasped, as she realised the picture was not only weird, it was moving as well. His hand scribbled slowly over the pages; his brow tensing and relaxing as he went. The warmth of the office enveloped her in the late hours of the night. A cup of tea to his side, sometimes disregarded, usually eagerly taken. The couch she used to sit on and help him. The silent chime of the clocktower nearby. The way he would stretch after a set of exam papers were graded. She missed it. She missed it so dearly it hurt.

She wanted to call out to him, but she realised that she couldn’t. She just stood there, in the middle of his office, watching him work without paying mind to his surroundings. It was very like him. But… How did she get here? How did the picture do this? She was in the Professor’s office, even though she was supposed to be across the globe looking for a yeti. She tried to take a step forward, but suddenly realised that she was back at the cabin in front of the fireplace. The office was gone, and the picture had turned to the picture of the fire she took before.

Emmy stayed there, staring at the picture with no words. A nostalgic feeling had creeped up on her, which made sense. Many questions filled her mind about what had just happened. How did this happen? Could it happen again? Her eyes felt heavy and the fire before her was starting to douse. She couldn’t keep them open for much longer… but the Professor…

* * *

She woke up in the same spot she was in the day before. Her body felt sore as she sat up; confused why she fell asleep here anyway. Her bed was way comfier than the floor, right? She looked at the fireplace and rubbed her eye. Today, she needed to get out and explore. That yeti wouldn’t photograph himself after all. But… there wasn something strange nagging at her. What was she doing here anyway?

She looked down and felt happiness bubble up inside of her when she saw her brand new camera. That’s right! It came in last night and she had been...experimenting… her eyes fell on the polaroid next to the camera. It was still the same picture of the fire she took... But why…? How did the camera change it to something that transported her to the Professor’s office? And why did it turn back? Was it all a dream? Did she imagine it?

‘’It must have been…’’

She grabbed the polaroid and studied it closer. The fire didn’t look strange or different. It didn’t move. This needed investigating. Something was off about that camera and she would find out. Riiiight after she had found that yeti that is. She got ready and grabbed her old camera for now. The new one wasn’t to be trusted with such a job yet. She walked outside into the thick layer of snow and breathed in deeply. She was going to take some vacation days after this to figure it all out.

* * *

After another week of yeti hunting, Emmy was finally done with her assignment. The ‘’yeti’’ had actually been old man Johnson who had forgotten to take his medication since march. He had been roaming the wild since on a quest to find ‘’the missing world’’ as he had put it. It honestly had made Emmy somewhat tired. She was currently on her way back to London to report to the main office. She had already been able to relay some of the info, making her editor cry from laughter. She didn’t think it was that funny.

Tightly strapped on her hip was her camera pouch, with inside, her new camera. She had not used it since the first time; afraid that it might entice her too much and take up valuable time from her assignment. Well. That ‘’valuable’’ time would have probably been better spent on the camera to be honest. She patted the little pouch and sighed as she looked through the plane window. She had already asked for some time off the next week so she could finally find out what the hell was up with this camera.

Being in London for a bit didn’t hurt either. It had been well over a year since her last vacation. Mostly because she had been running from the place. It forced her to remember things she would rather not deal with as of yet. And she wasn’t planning on doing that now either, because she fortunately had something else more important to deal with. Although...the image of the Professor from the photograph still hadn’t left her.

After some time, she finally arrived back home. She unloaded her things and heaved herself down onto her couch.

‘’Finally…’’ she sighed, more tired than expected. ‘’Now, let’s see then…’’

She grabbed the camera from her pouch and turned it on. Somewhere, she didn’t expect anything to happen. Maybe it had just been a trick of the light, or maybe she had just been tired. It was probably nothing… but… what if it was? She had to find out. She aimed to camera to her salon table and didn’t think much about the positioning. She just snapped the picture and waited with a pounding heart for the photo to develop.

Three minutes or so passed by, which had felt like an eternity, and the image was starting to appear. Emmy held her breath as the image seemed to change into something else entirely once more. Instead of her dark brown salon table, with an empty cup, several coasters and a half used candle on top, an open view of what looked like Hyde park appeared. On a bench beside a large tree, overlooking a field with playing children and jogging adults, sat Professor Layton.

He was enjoying a cup of tea on the go and had a book in hand. Emmy could almost make out the title, that’s how clear the image was. She could feel the cool outside air as she breathed out and a shiver ran down her spine. She was standing before him as he was concentrating on his book. The sounds of the birds, the children playing and the distant hubbub of the city was so clear in her ears. The smell of the trees and the grass. It all felt crisp and real. She remembered how she was pulled back into reality the moment she moved, so she stayed in place. She wondered if anyone could see her. She opened her mouth to speak, and was surprised to hear a sound come out.

‘’P-professor?’’

She had only said it softly. She knew he probably couldn’t hear her. She still wasn’t even sure if this was all real. Did it mean that the Professor was actually at Hyde park enjoying a book? Or was she imagining all of it? She saw him blink a couple of times before raising his head. His eyes widened and Emmy could feel a strange sensation flow through her. Could he...see her? It looked like he was looking directly at her, only… not completely.

‘’Hello?’’

The sudden question snapped her out of it and made her take a step back. As soon as she did, she was transported right back to her couch. She stared at the picture and witnessed it turning to the salon table. The cold from outside was still clinging to her clothes. There was no doubt about it. She had actually been there. Emmy had to keep herself from freaking out. She threw the picture across the room and paced up and down from her kitchen to the bathroom.

‘’Did he see me? What the hell just happened?!’’

She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. Not only did it happen all again, she also managed to get a response out of the Professor, which she had not expected.

‘’Why does it show me him? Why and how?!’’ She had opened her bedroom and threw herself onto her bed. ‘’I’m going to have to show this to someone…’’ she sighed.

She had to test if it happened to anyone else.

* * *

‘’So, what’s this all about then?’’

Emmy placed a cup of coffee on the table and smiled a half-smile.

‘’Well… I was wondering if you could help me with something.’’

Across from her on her beanbag, sat her editor and occasional friend Jess. They had been asking questions about why exactly Emmy had finally taken some days off from work, since it had been so unlike her, which got them an invitation to Emmy’s flat.

‘’If this is about that fluke yeti story, you shouldn’t be knocking on my door darling. You know this.’’

Jess took the cup from the table and took a long sip as Emmy contemplated how to do this.

‘’No, no, it’s not. It’s something a little more personal…’’

‘’Emmy,’’

‘’Yeah?’’

‘’You know I’m ace right? We can’t bang even if you ask nicely.’’

Jess had a tendency to joke when they didn’t know what to say. Emmy laughed awkwardly, still a little new to Jess in a friendly capacity, but shook her head when it was time to get serious.

‘’You know I bought this new camera, right?’’ she asked.

‘’Yeah. You’ve been gushing about it for weeks.’’ Jess rolled their eyes with a small smile.

‘’Well… would you mind taking a picture with it and telling me what you see?’’

The request was odd, that Emmy knew as she saw Jess cock their head to the side.

‘’It’s been… malfunctioning in a way, and I was wondering if it’s because of something I’m doing.’’

‘’Aren’t you the camera genius?’’ Jess mumbled as they took the camera in hand. ‘’I’m just an editor. What the hell do I know.’’

‘’Just… indulge me.’’ Emmy scratched the back of her head.

Jess aimed to camera to Emmy and snapped a picture. It of course took a moment to develop. Emmy was nervously bouncing in her seat with anticipation.

‘’What exactly is wrong with it?’’ Jess asked.

‘’You’ll see…’’

After a couple of minutes, the picture finally developed and Emmy appeared. Jess looked closely at the photo and hummed. Emmy could only see herself in the pic, and was surprised that nothing seemed to move or change. No Professor. No weird transformations. No teleportation. Nothing. Jess however, seemed oddly quiet.

‘’Jess?’’

No response. They were just staring at the picture with a strange look in their eyes. Emmy frowned and got up from her chair. She placed her hand on Jess’s shoulder and shook them a bit.

‘’You good?’’

Jess flinched and snapped their head in Emmy’s direction.

‘’Wh-what just happened?’’

Emmy wasn’t sure.

‘’I… I saw my best friend, Illhan, but, but that’s not possible. She is traveling to France. I… I was standing right besides her!’’

It happened. Only different.

* * *

The next few days Emmy tried to have more people try out the camera. The result never changed. Everytime someone took a picture, they were met with the image of someone they cared for most. Their husbands, their wives, their best friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, partners. Someone they loved. How it happened or why was still a mystery, but it did cause Emmy to think of one conclusion.

‘’Everyone is seeing the person they want to see most…’’

She was currently standing in front of someplace that she had been increasingly aching to visit. Young college students roamed around her; some leaving home, others rushing to their next lecture. She took a deep breath and decided to walk inside. The familiar scent of Gressenheller filled her nostrils. She walked up a few flights of stairs, down the right, around the corner and to the end of the hallway. She could still walk through here with her eyes closed if she wanted to.

At the end of the hallway, was an office with a tophat marked on the door. The place that she had confirmed was currently still occupied by the Professor named Hershel Layton. A man she hadn’t seen in a long time. She swallowed a lump in her throat and sighed. The camera was still in her hands; held tightly as she wanted to show him. Maybe she should check inside with a picture before she would head in? That way she could check if he wasn’t too busy.

She aimed the camera at the door and took a picture of the logo. The photo was printed and she waited with nervous anticipation for it to develop. Once it did, the Professor once again appeared. He was sitting at his desk like she expected. Only, he was not hunched over some papers or artifacts. He was turned to the door with a frown on his face. Emmy was standing against the wall next to his couch and just stared for a moment. It almost looked like he was looking to the door.

To her surprise, he got up from his chair and indeed walked over to the entrance. Panic settled for a moment, because she was afraid that she wasn’t going to return quickly enough. But thankfully, the moment she thought that, she was returned to her body and watched the door open.

‘’...Emmy?’’

Emmy could feel her worry melt away as soon as she heard his voice. A smile was placed on her lips and the polaroid was lowered into her pocket.

‘’Hello Professor.’’


End file.
